D.C. Raises Taxes, This Time on Plastic Bags

Fenty Signs “Bag Bill”
Kavitha Cardoza
July 07, 2009 – D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty has signed a bill that would charge a fee of five cents for every paper and plastic bag sold in the District. The law goes into effect in January 2010. In a statement, Fenty called disposable bags “a menace to our waterways.” The fee is meant to discourage their use while creating a fund that would cleanup the badly polluted Anacostia River. A recent study showed plastic bags make up as much as half the trash in the river and its tributaries. The nickel fee would apply to grocery stores, pharmacies and eateries. The fee will not apply to bags used for certain items including newspapers, produce and prescription drugs.

A fee? A fee? Criminy, Kavitha, why are you letting these people spin you? If you’re going to use a euphemism, call it a “Anacostia contribution” or some other buncombe.

Admittedly, the new tax will change this D.C. resident’s behavior. Thankfully, we’ve found a great source of reusable bags, piles of them discarded in the alley right behind the Municipal Diptheria Clinic.